Shu Yan went into the kitchen and made a cup of instant coffee.
As she stirred the coffee, she still believed her mother understood her father best. She couldn't listen to Huo Jin, nor could she let her make this matter known to the entire town.
With trembling hands, Shu Yan poured some white wine into the coffee and carried it out.
"Yan, come quickly and see how adorable your child is. She'll surely be a super beauty when she grows up." Huo Jin saw her emerge from the kitchen and took the cup, taking a sip of coffee.
Shu Yan nervously kept her other hand behind her back, holding a stone paperweight. Country houses often had such items to ward off evil spirits.
Huo Jin frowned and asked, "What's this strange taste in the coffee? Why does it smell like alcohol?"
"There aren't any good coffee beans in the countryside. It's just instant coffee, it shouldn't smell like alcohol," Shu Yan feigned ignorance with a smile.
Huo Jin took another sip curiously and said, "No, there's definitely a smell of alcohol. You didn't pour wine into it, did you..."
Shu Yan, standing beside her, suddenly raised the stone paperweight and smashed it hard against Huo Jin's back of the head several times.
Huo Jin immediately felt dizzy and disoriented. She tried to push Shu Yan away but had no strength to resist. Clutching her head, she said, "Shu Yan... what are you doing? Hurry and take me to the hospital..."
Shu Yan's body trembled, and she continued to smash Huo Jin's head with the stone paperweight like a madwoman. "Huo Jin, why are you meddling! If you dare to spread my business, I'll kill you!"
The cup in Huo Jin's hand dropped, and she fell backward onto the ground.
Her eyes widened as she stared at Shu Yan, unable to speak. Blood began to gush from her mouth.
Shu Yan seemed to regain her senses, dropping the stone paperweight in terror. Helplessly, she stammered, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. You can't tell Uncle Huo about this, and you can't let my father know. Uncle Huo may be strict with you and Huo Zheng, but you are his only children. My family is different; my father has too many choices... I... I..."
With her last ounce of strength, Huo Jin weakly extended a hand, trying to grab her arm.
Shu Yan regretfully grasped Huo Jin's wrist, not noticing that a pendant had fallen from Huo Jin's bracelet. She cried, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll help you stop the bleeding, I'll help you..."
Huo Jin's wrist, held by Shu Yan, lost all its strength and fell from her grasp. Her wide eyes, which had lost their usual light, quickly dimmed.
Shu Yan immediately got up and said, "I have some styptic powder here, I'll go find it, I'll go find it!"
She searched the room for medicine that could treat external wounds. When she returned to Huo Jin with the styptic powder, she found a pool of blood on the ground and Huo Jin no longer breathing.
She collapsed onto the ground in terror, still finding it unbelievable. She had only hit her a few times; how could she have died so easily?
It wasn't her fault; it was an accident, a complete accident! An accident!
After repeatedly comforting herself, she finally calmed down and realized she couldn't let anyone discover Huo Jin's body in this house.
She went to the kitchen, took the remaining white wine, and poured it all into Huo Jin's lifeless mouth.
Then, she went outside to check Huo Jin's car parked nearby. Confirming that no one was around, she laboriously moved Huo Jin's body into the car.
At this point, she was so calm it was almost numb. She returned to the house, put all the baby supplies Huo Jin had brought into the car, took the stone paperweight that had struck Huo Jin's head with her, and drove the car to a pond some distance from the village.
With the car still running, she moved Huo Jin to the driver's seat, fastened her seatbelt, placed Huo Jin's foot on the accelerator, and forcefully pressed her foot down.
The car, as if out of control, rushed towards the pond. However, after a short dash, the car didn't enter the pond; half of it remained on the bank, and the other half hung precariously over the water.
Shu Yan gave the car a strong push from behind, and the entire vehicle finally plunged into the pond, creating a few splashes before slowly sinking.
She casually threw the blood-stained stone paperweight into the water as well, then hurried back on foot.
Upon returning to the old house, she saw the baby sleeping soundly in the crib. She didn't dare to rest and immediately scrubbed the bloodstains in the room repeatedly.
It wasn't until dawn that she felt she had erased all traces of Huo Jin's presence.
Exhausted, she knelt on the ground and muttered to herself, "Huo Jin, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. If you have a spirit in heaven, please don't blame me. I can't let anyone know you died here, or I'll be completely ruined... completely ruined..."
The baby woke up and began to cry incessantly, but she turned a deaf ear, repeatedly kowtowing in the direction of the door.
"Shu Yan, are you there?" Xiao Anjing's voice echoed from outside the door.
She hurriedly got up from the ground, took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her face, and replied, "Yes."
Xiao Anjing said from outside the door, "Open the door. The baby is crying, can't you hear?"
Shu Yan opened the door and said calmly, "I was still asleep. I was just woken up by the baby's crying."
Xiao Anjing entered and saw her looking tired. "The baby cried all night again, keeping you from sleeping well?"
Shu Yan shook her head. "The baby was very good last night. I couldn't sleep all night worrying. My mother told me to give the baby away quickly so I can return to the Shu family."
Xiao Anjing put down the baby supplies and necessities he had brought and asked, "Did Auntie come yesterday?"
Shu Yan nodded, hiding her guilt.
"You comfort the baby first, and I'll make the milk powder. We'll talk about this later." Xiao Anjing picked up the milk powder and went to the kitchen. He noticed that the white wine he used for cooking was gone, leaving only an empty bottle.
Shu Yan picked up the baby and looked at her, finally making up her mind. She had no way back now.
She no longer wanted to stay in this damned poor village. She couldn't be blamed for this; it was just that the child was born unlucky.
Xiao Anjing prepared the milk powder, tested the temperature of the bottle, and came out of the kitchen, casually asking, "You were drowning your sorrows in wine last night, finishing a whole bottle of white wine?"
Shu Yan took the milk bottle from him and fed the baby, avoiding his gaze. She hummed in agreement. "My mother and the Shu family won't accept this child. I have to make a choice, but my heart aches."
Xiao Anjing felt sorry for her and the child. "Can such a young child be separated from her mother?"
"What if she can't be separated? This is her fate, and it's because of how she looks." Shu Yan said with a hardened heart.
Xiao Anjing asked, "Is returning to the Shu family that important to you? I don't mind raising this child together with you..."
"You don't mind, but I do. I am the acknowledged daughter of the Shu family. I can't ruin everything my mother worked so hard to achieve in the Shu family! I..." Shu Yan couldn't continue. She had killed Huo Jin on impulse last night, and she wanted to say she had no way back, but she swallowed the words, softening her tone. "Don't say anything more. Find a way to help me send this child away as soon as possible."
"Are you sure you've made up your mind and won't regret it?" Xiao Anjing asked.